Some weeks ago, LaMelo Ball became the first player ever in Hornets history to sign a max rookie contract extension, as he finally put his pen to paper and inked the $260 million deal that keeps him in Charlotte for five more years.
Now, the 21-year-old is one of the highest-paid young players in the NBA and can share his thoughts on his success. Ball says it was an easy decision to stay put in North Carolina.
“The decision, it wasn’t really hard,” he said this week. “All my years here I’ve had a good time. Life wasn’t bad. The basketball aspect, that’s not really going well. You kind of want to live your life and just have fun and just be living well. So in Charlotte I was doing that, so it just all felt like a great choice.”
“Until recently there had never been a Hornets player who had received a rookie max contract extension, and the player who had changed that, of course, is LaMelo Ball.”
LaMelo Ball has officially signed his 5 year, $260 million contract with the Hornets 🔥pic.twitter.com/vVwbQ7xJMl
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 21, 2023
Throughout his three years in the NBA, the rising star has proved worthy of his massive contract. This past season, he was enjoying the best performances of his young career, but suffered another injury that kept him on the sidelines for at least half of the campaign.
The six-foot-seven guard played in 36 games, and averaged 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and a career-best 8.4 assists, hitting at least 4 triples per match on a 37.6% efficiency.
Even though LaMelo still feels he has much to prove in North Carolina, team president Mitch Kupchak is convinced he’ll leave the injuries in the past and will grow exponentially in the upcoming campaigns.
“To have a player of LaMelo’s caliber with his game, with his youth, we know he is going to get better as a player,” the Hornets general manager said. “He’s here every day. He certainly had a setback last year, but in terms of healing, he’s been 100 percent healed and he’s been on the court working out every single day trying to get better.”
Coach Steve Clifford knows that the Hornets need to start winning to keep their roster healthy and motivated
At some point, head coach Steve Clifford feared his star players wouldn’t want to stay in Charlotte after their latest poor season. He knows that Ball needs to start winning to keep him and the roster around him motivated.
“He badly wants to win,” he said of the 21-year-old. “When you’re at his level, there are certain expectations. You’re going to be compared to the other point guards his age that have had not incredible playoff success but have had some. It’s important to his career.”
As for LaMelo, he’d mentioned a couple of months ago that he was looking foward to dedicate his summer to leave his injuries beinhd and come back stronger than ever. He even dared to reveal his intentions of winning a title for the Hornets sometime soon.
“It’s a big summer and I’m just trying to get back healthy,” Ball said during his exit interviews in April. “I’m looking forward to next season. Just listening to the trainers and going from there.
“Hopefully, we will get there and get the big trophy in the end.”
